Washington, DC – Jamal Abdi, President of the National Iranian American Council, issued the following statement following reports that the U.S. has launched the first in a sustained campaign of strikes against militias in Iraq and Syria backed by Iran following the tragic loss of three U.S. servicemembers in Jordan on January 28:
“We are deeply concerned that President Biden is continuing to walk a path that is bringing the U.S. closer to a full-blown war with Iran. The President must respond to and prevent attacks on U.S. troops, but he cannot bomb his way to a solution. If the President truly wants to prevent attacks on U.S. troops and prevent war across the region, his absolute top priority must be to secure a permanent ceasefire to end the slaughter in Gaza.
“Attacks on U.S. troops halted during the previous humanitarian pause brokered between Israel and Hamas. Previously, there had been no attacks on U.S. troops during backchannel negotiations in 2023 that led to five Iranian Americans being freed from Iran and a calming of tensions. Before that, there were no significant attacks on U.S. troops from 2012 to 2018 during the negotiations and implementation of the Iran nuclear agreement – until Trump killed the agreement.
“A ceasefire, and a major diplomatic initiative to address the underlying challenges in the region and end the paradigm of forever war is urgently needed. Today’s actions do not bring us closer to that outcome.”
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